CHAMPAIGN, Ill. By creating a model of the active site found in a naturally occurring enzyme, chemists at the University of Illinois have described a catalyst that acts like nature's most pervasive hydrogen processor.

The researchers describe their work in a paper accepted for publication in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, and posted on the journal's Web site.

Scientists have long been puzzled by nature's ability to use cheap and plentiful building blocks iron, nickel and sulfur to achieve the catalytic performance seen in rare and expensive metals. In particular, two enzymes iron-iron hydrogenase and nickel-iron hydrogenase function as hydrogen processors, much like platinum.

"Nature relies on a very elaborate architecture to support its own 'hydrogen economy,' " said Thomas B. Rauchfuss, a professor of chemistry and corresponding author of the paper. "We cracked that design by generating mock-ups of the catalytic site to include the substrate hydrogen atom."

The researchers' model of the nickel-iron complex is the first to include a bridging hydride ligand, an essential component of the catalyst.

"By better understanding the mechanism in the nickel-iron hydrogenase active site, we are learning how to develop new kinds of synthetic catalysts that may be useful in other applications," said graduate student Bryan E. Barton, lead author of the paper.

"The study of hydrogenases offers plenty of potential glamour such as the hydrogen economy, green energy and bio-fuel cells but the lasting breakthroughs result from manipulable mechanistic models like ours," said graduate student and co-author Matthew Whaley. "By building a model that contains a hydride ligand, we have proven that the behavior of these natural catalysts can be understood and optimized."

(Date:3/29/2017)... the health IT company that operates the largest health ... today announced a Series B investment from BlueCross BlueShield ... investment and acquisition accelerates higi,s strategy to create the ... activities through the collection and workflow integration of ambient ... secures data today on behalf of over 36 million ...

(Date:3/24/2017)... , Mar 24, 2017 Research and ... Access System Market Analysis & Trends - Industry Forecast to 2025" ... ... to grow at a CAGR of around 15.1% over the next ... This industry report analyzes the market estimates and forecasts for all ...

(Date:8/15/2017)... ... 15, 2017 , ... Nanomedical Diagnostics , a cutting-edge ... the launch of the new NHS Agile biosensor chip . The new ... a wide range of molecules, including small and large molecules, peptides, proteins, and ...

(Date:8/15/2017)... ... August 15, 2017 , ... Coffea arabica ... biotic and abiotic factors. During this educational webinar, participants will learn about the ... as gain a better understanding of how genomics is important for coffee breeding ...

(Date:8/10/2017)... Philadelphia, PA (PRWEB) , ... August 09, 2017 ... ... back to the classroom next week-- as students. From August 14th through the ... Institute. The institute, which debuted in the summer of 2016, provides Philadelphia-based middle ...